Group Notes | August 21

Plugged In: Keep Calm and Carry On-Overcoming Fear with Faith
August 21,2016
Charles Billingsley

 

Open:

Frustration can explode when you’re in the middle of a document, only to have your laptop shut down because you forgot to recharge it. Or electricity goes out just as a cake goes into the oven! Can anyone give a personal example of losing power?

Over the next few weeks, we will examine how our lives are powerless unless we are deeply “plugged in” to Christ Jesus, walking in faith daily. Today we will look at the fear that can enter our thoughts and hearts as we are bombarded with chaos on every hand, until we remember that we know the source of all power: it is God and God alone.

 

Discuss:

  1. Read Psalm 46:1-11. What is the central lesson this Psalm teaches?
  2. As you listened to the Psalm being read, what were your thoughts, and how did the words speak to your heart?
  3. It is said of the great theologian, Martin Luther, when he heard discouraging news, that he would say, “Come, let us sing the forty-sixth Psalm!” Why do you think that was?

Be Still

  1. In verse 10, what are some meanings of the word “be”? Does it indicate action?
  2. Everyone knows what it means to be “still,” but why is it so difficult? If God tells us to “be still,” He considers it extremely important. Does anyone recall some of the definitions given in the sermon for the word? (They will be listed at the end.)

And Know

  1. God continued to give us instructions, in addition to being still. What does God mean by “know”? Why is it so important that we know the heart of God?
  2. As you think of your family or friends, what makes the difference between knowing them, and being acquainted with them? Why does this Psalm illustrate the importance of knowing Him intimately?

 

That I AM God

  1. If you remember the sermons on the life of Moses, God called Himself the “I AM.” What are some of the characteristics of God being “I AM”?
  2. What does God want for us in this Psalm? How does that define “Who” He is?

Why should that bring us tremendous peace in the midst of the trouble and fear of the times we are living in?

 

Close:

An old hymn said “trials dark on every hand.”* That so well sums up our world. We are besieged by busyness and electronics in our jobs, at home and play. As you break into small groups, discuss how these things take your time away from knowing God better. What things can you omit in order to spend time alone with Him, and actually “Be Still”? Be open with one another, so that each of you can pray for the discipline everyone needs in order to hunger and thirst to really KNOW God. When you recognize His unparalleled power, you will realize you have no reason to fear anything, for He has your back. Thank Him continually for the good things He has done in your life! This week, ask Him to show you ways to know Him more intimately, and overcome those times when you find yourself living in fear.

Memory Verse: Psalm 46:10: “Be still and know that I am God.”

Focal Passage: Psalm 46:1-11.

Memorable Quotes: “Come, let us sing the forty-sixth Psalm!” Martin Luther 1483-1546); “In the presence of power, fear subsides.” Charles Billingsley

*Song: “We’ll Understand It Better By and By,” lyrics by Charles Albert Tindley

Contemplate: “Be”: to exist; “Still”:  to cease striving; to abandon; practice solitude, detach daily; leaving anything that takes our focus away from God; “And Know”: knowledge at the deepest level (Jeremiah 29:13); “that I AM God”: from Greek Elohim; He is always in the present, and He holds the future in His hands. To Him is all power, honor, majesty, glory and much, much more.

 

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